see (Marquand, 1983)

March 10, 2025 8:41 AM

Is a bone a viable weapon when combating a Rancor? Estimating the bite force of an intergalactic mega-predator. S. Lautenschlager and T. Clements, Journal of Geek Studies, volume 12, issue 1, pages 25-36 (2025).

The ability of the Rancor to snap the femur with apparent ease poses interesting questions: (1) how much dorso-lateral force is required to snap a femur of the size used by Luke to stave off the Rancor in ROTJ? (2) Could the Rancor generate such force with its jaws? Lastly, (3) could any other extinct or extant organisms generate such force? Despite the fact that Rancor exist(ed?) a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away, there are techniques employed in paleontological research that can answer the questions outlined above.

METHODOLOGY: Rancor morphology and behaviour; Rancor morphology and behaviour; Cranial muscle reconstruction; Gape analysis; Biomechanical analyses

RESULTS:

[...] The biomechanical analysis of the mammalian femur under load showed that the bone experiences high stress values (up to 200 MPa) in the midshaft region. The femur is predominantly subjected to compressive stresses due to the bite force acting at both epiphyses which consequently leads to bending of the bone. This force exceeds the bending strength for most vertebrate bones, such as Alligator femora (Currey, 1987; Erickson et al., 2002) and is within the yield limit of human long bones (Turner & Burr, 1993). [...]

DISCUSSION:

[...] We, therefore, suggest that, in a life threatening situation, utilising a long bone to prevent the Rancor from devouring you can only be relied upon as a temporary measure – in the specific case of Luke’s encounter with the Rancor, the usefulness of a long bone is likely further diminished by the desert climate of Tatooine: bones that are ‘dry’ are known to have a lower bending strength and are more brittle than fresh or wet bones (Curry, 1988). [...]

CONCLUSION:

By reconstructing the skeletal anatomy and using Finite Element Analysis, a technique commonplace in palaeontological science, we have estimated the bite force of the iconic Rancor, the intergalactic predatory ‘reptomammal’ from Return of the Jedi. [...] [W]e suggest that the Rancor’s bite force far exceeds any extant organism and is comparable to the large predatory theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex.

posted by fantabulous timewaster (7 comments total)

Summary thread on BlueSky, by Lautenschlager.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:45 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

it's a movie, so yeah if the movie said it could be done...it could.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:20 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

Video abstract.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 10:02 AM on March 10 [1 favorite]

it's a movie, so yeah if the movie said it could be done...it could.

the fact that this is featured in the Journal of Geek Studies suggests, to me anyway, the spirit in which this question is intended
posted by ginger.beef at 10:46 AM on March 10 [5 favorites]

There's a lot of "let's apply SCIENCE to a fictional world where anything can happen" which slides off into fan-wankery that I'm not a fan of, but I'd like to think that this paper illustrates the techniques real-world paleontologists use to draw conclusions from very limited data (i.e. a single bone, footprint, etc) and it's that methodology that's the interesting and relevant part.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:01 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]

posted by fantabulous timewaster

eponysterical
posted by adrienneleigh at 1:29 PM on March 10 [1 favorite]

kinetic energy alone could power about 48 droids.
posted by clavdivs at 6:29 PM on March 10